Introduce yourself. That’s the first step to any college essay. You have to present yourself as an individual. Stand out from the crowd. Be proud of your achievements, but humble in your presentation. Describe yourself as a great student, one who works hard, but always has time to effortlessly juggle volunteer efforts, sports, and extracurriculars. Never let them know how hard you worked to get to where you are, make sure it seems effortless. Talk about your accomplishments, and if they aren’t as impressive as you would have liked, don’t be afraid to embellish. These are just some of the things to include in your essay.

College admission boards want to see well rounded students. They want teenagers who know exactly why they want to go college and exactly what they want to do with their lives. Make sure to emphasize that your goals revolve around getting a stellar education and using that to grow as a person. When explaining why you want to attend a particular school, don’t mention what they can do for you, rather subtly explain to them all of the qualities and attributes that you will bring to their campus (use information from schools’ websites to find all of the qualities you should have).

Now make sure that your essay is flawless. Anything less than perfection will not do. Spend your time before the deadline rereading everything. Remember your grammar, your syntax, your rhetorical purpose, your tone, and your presentation. Always remember, your essay should be easy enough to change so that it will fit into the thousands of prompts that you have to write for each other college you applied to, because who has enough time in the day to write a new essay for every single supplement- especially with your busy schedule of being a super student.